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Moore submits solid effort as Rays rally late

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By Rhett Bollinger
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MLB.com |

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Rays rallied for five runs off reliever Tim Wood in the eighth inning to hand the Twins an 8-5 loss on Tuesday at Hammond Stadium.

Wood, who is fighting for a spot in Minnesota's bullpen, came in to protect a three-run lead but struggled. Stephen Vogt plated the first run of the inning on an RBI single before Cole Figueroa brought home a run on an RBI groundout. Hak-Ju Lee tied it up with an RBI single before Kevin Kiermaier gave Tampa Bay the lead with a two-run triple.

The comeback came after the Twins rallied for three runs to take the lead in the sixth inning against right-hander Roberto Hernandez. Dan Rohlfing started it with a two-out RBI single to score Trevor Plouffe, who walked earlier in the inning. Rolfing then came around to score on a triple from Ray Olmedo before Pedro Florimon singled Olmedo home.

The Twins got on the board first, scoring twice against Rays left-hander Matt Moore in the first inning. Joe Benson walked and Jamey Carroll singled to open the game. Both scored on a two-run double from Plouffe.

Moore settled down after that first frame, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings.

The Rays tied it up with two runs in the second against right-hander Liam Hendriks with the help of a misplay from Josh Willingham in left field with two outs. Willingham lost Leslie Anderson's fly ball in the sun that ended up dropping in for an RBI double. Anderson came around to score on an RBI single from Jose Lobaton.

Hendriks, making his third start of the spring, ended up surrendering two runs on four hits and a walk over three innings. He also struck out three.

"This outing was really good," Hendriks said. "It was the best I've felt this Spring Training. I was able to locate my slider and my curveball. And the changeup was pretty good. So everything is coming along."

Relievers Brian Duensing and Josh Roenicke each threw two scoreless innings for the Twins.

Up next: The Rays have their first off-day of the spring on Wednesday before returning to action in Bradenton to take on the Pirates on Thursday at 1:05 p.m. ET. Alex Cobb, Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi are all scheduled to throw against Pittsburgh.